It was cold. So cold it reminded him of home. It wasn't snowing, but the landscape was still white and blinding.
Amaguq strode at a steady pace, knowing well the dangers he'd face if he stopped. Furthermore, he'd been surviving out of frozen berries, and he knew he had to find something more substantial to eat very soon.
Despair made him turn his attention to the ravens he so despised. He started following them, hoping that the birds would have been luckier than him in finding a carcass.
And after one hour, his patience is rewarded! Well, sort of... There was a carcass in there, a partially eaten doe, its flesh frozen amid the bare bone. Whoever took that doe down decided that it didn't worth ending up with a numb tongue, a tired jaw, maybe even a broken tooth, for chewing flesh as hard as a rock; so he left it behind, discarded, partially hidden in the snow, handed over to whoever hungry or crazy enough to risk a bite.
Like Amaguq. And the wolverine that stands on top of the carcass, eating it voraciously. Amaguq could hear every crack made in the bone and flesh as the sound echoes around the trees.
Amaguq approached boldly, and the large mustelid readily answered him with a snarl, drool dripping from his bare teeth. The white wolf responded the same way.
Their growlings could be heard from miles away, an omen of a fight to come.
The threatening growls fell on deaf ears. No one came in Amaguq's aid, but none came to claim a piece of frozen deer either. The wind blew amongst the pines' needles. "Okay, you little bastard! Do you want to fight, you've found your match!" Amaguq lunged at the wolverine, mouth wide open aiming at his enemy's head. The creature curled and twisted his body to avoid getting caught in the wolf's teeth. In the middle of the confusion of fur, sound, and snow, Amaguq managed to grip on the mustelid's spine. The wolverine growled louder with pain, his paws blindly stretching to reach Amaguq's eyes, nose, or any other sensitive spot he could hit.
The white wolf didn't endure the grip for long: his rival was tough, vicious; he was set in a rage so blind, Amaguq was forced to release him. Shortly after, the wolf felt his chest wet: blood stains his fur once again. Damn creature's claws had cut like daggers through his skin. And Amaguq could see in the wolverine's eyes: that devil still longed for blood.
"Such aggressiveness! Such fearlessness!" Amaguq panted, his eye glaring with a fiery glow. "Is it of courage? Stupidity? Both?" The wolverine charged, facing the wolf that was two times his size with great fanfare. The wolf grinned. How could someone's instincts ignore physical integrity? Amaguq longed for an answer, partly because he knew, regarding that matter, that he wasn't so different from his aggressor: yes, he was hungry but was that carcass reason enough to sustain such a battle? Maybe, maybe not. A wolf could have his doubts, but of one thing Amaguq was sure: the more energy he wastes in the battle, the more he instigates himself to win. Maybe we're both cursed by the same courage and the same stupidity. Maybe the carcass has little meaning to us now. We fight for one another, puppets of our pride, knowing that in the end, only one of us will still stand.
They clashed against each other once more. Amaguq was tired, his limbs trembling, his chest growing sore by the second. But he couldn't stop; not yet: this time, he will tear the creature apart. He wouldn't let go this time.
The wolverine's paws can claw at him again and again. Not this time!
Amaguq only released the creature when the wolverine stopped moving. One more carcass dropped to the ground, and the wolf stood, victorious, but tired: so tired that Amaguq collapsed in the forest ground shortly after.
One final thought crossed his mind before the world became pitch black: I got you...
His ear twitched in reflex, and a similar spasm also occurred in his paws: something was bothering him, pecking his toes.
Amaguq opened his eye slowly, only to find a raven watching him curiously, inches from his nose. "What the ..." The wolf looked around: the place was infested with ravens feasting on the carcasses while Amaguq slumbered. "Damn critters!" He readily chased the birds away. Those carcasses were his, and his alone! Amaguq managed to snatch one bird out of the panicked flock: he crunched it angrily without minding the feathers. In the end, he let out an exasperated howl, warning all nearby scavengers to keep their distance.
His chest ached, reminding him of the wound the wolverine had done to him. Amaguq turned his attention to his rival's corpse. The crows were rather messy eaters: the poor creature seemed to have been pierced by a thousand thorns.
The wolverine had already been desecrated long enough: Amaguq took the body in his jaws, tore the corpse, and devoured its heart. It was an old tradition, back in Labrador: to pay tribute to fallen enemies, the winner must consume their hearts.
Amaguq then turned to the doe, now more ice than meat, and chewed the remnant meat around the bones.
The wind blew again, bringing the sweet scent of pine with it: a perfume the wolf found increasingly nauseating.
The Bracken Grove was a placid, yet deadly place: prey is scarce and the scavengers, many. If Amaguq wished to prosper, he knew he should go further south and leave that cursed place behind!